Close Encouters
by Blackkatana
Summary: A young Ac pilot meets someone...
1. Who are You?

Mystic Destiny Chapter One-Who are you?  
  
BOOM!  
  
The last attacking MT burst into thousands of flaming pieces, the remainder of the attack force diminished. The blood-red AC put down its gun arm and boosted back towards the building it was defending.  
  
Mission Status: Complete Reward: 50,000 credits  
  
Inside the AC, Simeon shook his head. This mission was too easy and waaay overpaid.  
  
"Auron, damage report please"  
  
A diagram appeared overhead, showing the AC.  
  
All systems normal  
  
"Good."  
  
He boosted up and away from the small city, and towards the wide expanse of desert that the area was famous for. He had never spent much time on Earth, but nothing could match the glory of a desert sunset. He looked up at a hawk flying overhead, watching him carefully. The brown hawk let out a screech, and in the background, he could hear the sound of metal hitting metal. Wait a second, metal hitting metal?  
  
Simeon turned around, only to discover a girl sitting idly in the back of his cockpit, with one of the many wrenches he had floating in midair, banging against the delicate machinery of his AC. Floating!?!?  
  
To say the least, Simeon was shocked. He paused for a second, searching for something to say, and then asked quite angrily.  
  
"Who are you and what do you want from me?!"  
  
Of course, most of the time, when someone was in such a spot, they had been trying to kill him. But nobody ever sent young teenage girls with long silver hair for assassination attempts.  
  
The girl looked up at him, a golden horn protruding from the soft, silvery curls on her forehead. She deftly caught the floating wrench and stood, hooves clanking against the steel flooring. No, the mysterious girl didn't pull out a gun and shoot him, nor did she shoot some weird beam of energy at him, and she didn't blow up his AC either, as Klein expected. No, she simply ran over to him and tried to kiss him on the cheek.  
  
He ducked away, backing into the safety of a corner.  
  
"Who the heck are you!?!?"  
  
The girl simply giggled and disappeared, reappearing outside in full view of the screen. She smiled and pointed a finger at his AC and snapped her fingers beside her head with the other hand.  
  
Caution: System overheating Temperature: 312 degrees and rising  
  
"What!?!?"  
  
Simeon ran back to the console and franticly pushed several buttons, causing an overhead to appear. On it, the entire diagram of the Auron was red. Overheating. Simeon looked back down at the girl far below. She was laughing. What did she do to his AC!?!?  
  
A red light flashed beside him, beeping for attention. He pressed it, watching as the engine temperature meter went higher.and higher.and higher.  
  
At the same time, even with the insulation, the cockpit was getting warm. Too warm. Within seconds, he was sweating.  
  
Caution: Engine temperature reaching melting point  
  
He looked back down at the girl again. She was still laughing. Suddenly, she disappeared again and reappeared floating beside the Plexiglas window in front of him. Using her finger, she wrote some words on the now foggy screen.  
  
Isn't it hot in there?  
Simeon looked back down at the console, punching more buttons, trying to activate the cooling systems. Obviously, it wasn't working. The meter was still rising, not even pausing for his efforts. He banged his fist against the Plexiglas, right over the girl.  
  
"Well, of course it is, idiot. STOP THIS AT ONCE!"  
  
Outside, the girl smiled, pointed a finger at the AC, and snapped her fingers again. Immediately, the temperature began to drop back to normal.  
  
"Auron, damage report?"  
  
Engine failure Generator failure Circuitry failure All other systems not detected  
  
Great. Just great. His AC was crippled, pretty much dead. And this little girl, years younger than he was, with astonishing powers was the cause. The girl popped back in, smiling.  
  
"By the way, my name's Sarah."  
  
He turned around, slipped his pistol out of his jacket, and pointed it at the girl's head, finger steady on the trigger.  
  
"Sarah, do you have any idea what you just did? You ruined my AC, melted the engines, and tried to kiss me. What do you have to say about that?"  
  
She simply smiled again.  
  
"Don't make me shoot."  
  
She simply sat smiling.  
  
He hesitated and then pulled the trigger. Even he didn't enjoy taking a woman's life. But there was no crack of gunshot. Instead, a single bubble shot out of his pistol, Sarah giggling all the while.  
  
"WHAT!?!?"  
  
He fired again. More bubbles. Selskia was still laughing. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped and spoke.  
  
"Guns aren't very nice."  
  
She snapped her fingers again, pointing at the gun. Immediately, it started to melt, smoking in his hand. He yelped, dropping the half pistol- shaped blob of molten plastic and steel, clutching at his burnt hand. He recovered within seconds, no sign of any pain and no mark on his hand. He clenched his fists, and let them go again. Knowing the girl, she would probably do something even worse to him if he tried to do anything. Instead, he sat back down in his chair, head in his hands, muttering.  
"This is just one of those days."  
  
End Part I  
  
The horned girl sat down in the back of his cockpit, fiddling with some wrenches, as well as a few random circuit boards. Simeon, however, was pacing the small cockpit of the AC, mumbling to himself.  
  
"The engines are gone.The generators too.All because one little girl found me.AND WHY THE HELL DOES SHE HAVE MAGIC!?!? Everyone knows it doesn't exist.Now I'm finished, might as well leave.But I can't just leave my AC here."  
  
Sarah looked up at that moment, eyes innocent as always. She smiled sweetly and asked a simple question.  
  
"Do you want to play?"  
  
Simeon looked at the girl. How could she ask such a question at a time like this? He answered quite angrily, with a very sarcastic smirk on his face.  
  
"Well, look. I'm stranded here with my useless AC. I was just fine until YOU came a long. Fat lot of help you did. And now you ask if I want to PLAY?!"  
  
The girl looked quite stunned for a second, and then tears started to well up in her eyes. She stood up now with anger lacing every word she said.  
  
"You hate me, don't you? No one likes me. No one cares. Go away then. Leave. LEAVE!"  
  
She looked around at the AC around her and snapped a finger.  
  
At that moment, Simeon, knowing the disastrous effects that a simple snap could have, ejected. As he was flying out in the air, he realized what a stupid mistake he had made, leaving his AC alone with the girl. Landing on a nearby cliff, he could still see his AC quite clearly. It looked.Smeared together, was the best way to describe it. It took him a second before he realized what was happening.  
  
"NOOOOOO!!!!! My AC!!!!! Auron!!!!!"  
  
He ran back towards the smoldering and melting AC. He was quite a bit away from it, so by the time he reached it, the remains of the once proud AC was a twisted hunk of steel. Sitting near its base, was Selskia.  
  
"You stupid @#$%&!"  
  
He was yelling by now, of course. Who wouldn't, with their AC reduced to a blob in the matter of minutes?  
  
The girl simply looked up at him. And smiled.  
  
"You want your AC back? Here."  
  
She snapped a finger. All of a sudden, the AC was just there. Sitting there in perfect condition, like the day he first got it. Klein just stopped ranting and stared. Then he turned back to Sarah with a look of amazement and annoyance.  
  
"Why didn't you do that in the first place!?!?"  
  
The girl giggled, and then tilted her head innocently.  
  
"I didn't think you cared."  
  
Then she stood up and snapped a finger. Instantly, instead of being outside the AC, Simeon found himself and the girl inside the cockpit. A bit bewildered by the sudden change of scenery, Simeon promptly toppled over from the one inch drop to the floor. Getting up, he looked at Sarah.  
  
"Next time, warn me when you do that."  
  
"Ok!"  
  
Then, the unicorn-like girl tried to kiss him again.  
  
"AUGHHH!!!!!"  
  
He backed into his chair like a frightened rabbit, as Sarah calmly sat down again.  
  
"And don't do that!"  
  
Sarah, however, paid no mind to his words and was already fiddling with a toolbox she had found. Simeon was looking over all the parts and typing furiously on the keyboard.  
  
"Vengeance, damage report please."  
  
Under his breath, he added "If you're even there."  
  
All systems normal  
  
Simeon stared at the words on the screen, and then looked back at Sarah.  
  
"How the heck did you do that?"  
  
Sarah simply smiled, then returned to the tools which were now having a small battle in the back of his cockpit, many of them dented and bent.  
  
"Now, back to the Raven's Nest.Should be straight up, if my calculations are correct."  
  
"Really? Here."  
  
Sarah dropped the various tools hanging in the air (the screwdrivers were winning at this point) and stood up, her fingers, poised to snap.  
  
"No! Wait!"  
  
The girl stopped, looking slightly confused. She always loved teleporting around. It was fun. And it scared people too.  
  
"And why shouldn't I teleport us up there?"  
  
"First of all, I enjoy the ride up there. Second of all, you didn't tell me you were about to teleport. Fortunately, I know that you snap your fingers before doing that. And last of all, there is no 'us'."  
  
"You hate me, don't you.?"  
  
She frowned and snapped her fingers. Simeon's shirt caught on fire, beginning right under the collar. Instantly, Klein stopped, dropped, and rolled, putting out the small fire. There was a hole roughly the size of his hand on his shirt though. He sighed.  
  
"Return it back to normal, would you? And no, I don't hate you. You're simply an annoyance who I would be better off not knowing."  
  
She seemed satisfied, at least. With another snap, his shirt was back to the way it was. Simeon looked at her again, and then slumped back in the chair.  
  
"Whatever. Have it your way. You can take us up to the Raven's Nest. Save the environment, at least."  
  
Sarah smiled yet again. She nodded quickly, like a hyperactive young 4 year-old, and snapped her fingers again. Simeon, watching the view screen, saw that they had reappeared inside the garage and Vengeance was already docked, ready for him to leave. He opened the hatch and took a step out into the 78 degree air, looking around again. He had a slight smile on his face now, barely noticeable, but there.  
  
"Home, sweet home."  
  
End Part II End Chapter 1 


	2. Responces

Mystic Destiny Chapter Two-Chaos  
  
Simeon turned back towards Sarah and sighed. Yeah, her horn and hooves were going to let her fit in at the station. Yeah right.  
  
"Umm.Can't you do anything about.Your horn?"  
  
She looked at herself like she had forgotten she was in her body.  
  
"Oh, whoops! Here."  
  
She pointed at herself and snapped. The change was instantaneous. Her long, wavy, silver hair had turned jet black, and was straight, cut short like most female raven's hair was, only down to her earlobes. She was shorter now, just about an inch shorter than Simeon. She was also wearing the standard uniform for ravens, but her eyes remained the same, deep black- brown color. Simeon had seen her before.Somewhere.But he quickly shook that thought away. He nodded approvingly and spoke quietly.  
  
"Well, just please don't go berserk and start melting things. Not very good around here."  
  
She answered with a nod, but that gleam in her eyes was still there.  
  
They walked down the hall to the lounge, only a few ravens in the hallway. None of them spoke to Simeon, knowing his annoyance at all humanity, but every one of them stared at Sarah walking close behind him. They reached the circular room, shining of steel and metal. As Sarah walked in behind the Raven, the room grew quiet. People were looking over their shoulders at Simeon, and slowly turned their gaze to Sarah.  
  
"She's an assistant."  
  
A few nodded their heads and looked away quickly, while others took another close look before turning back to their games of pool. As Simeon walked over to a table and sat down, eyes were still on him. They all knew perfectly well that Simeon never had assistants. Only a few seconds after sitting down, Sarah had made one of the saltshakers on the table start to hover a foot off the table.  
  
"Don't do that!"  
  
At his words, the people sitting at nearby tables turned and watched the floating saltshaker, dumbfounded. Simeon looked over at the group and said in a clear voice.  
  
"She's.ah.A test subject for anti-gravity department. Testing a new miniature anti-gravity projector."  
  
The people all nodded again. Simeon had authority here as one of the top Ravens, second, for that matter, so they believed him. Sort of....But soon after they turned, Sarah tried to kiss Simeon again.  
  
"AUGH!!!!!"  
  
A few people had turned around quickly enough to see Simeon fall out of his chair and onto his back. A few stifled chuckles, but even so, Simeon had turned beet red. He turned halfway towards Sarah and, out of the corner of his mouth, said very quietly, yet very angrily.  
  
"I told you not to do anything!!!!!"  
  
Sarah giggled, and replied in a not-so-quiet voice.  
  
"But you're cute!"  
  
Simeon took a few steps closer to her, obviously very mad. The rest of the people just kept watching.  
  
"I very clearly stated the fact that this behavior is completely unacceptable!"  
  
Then Simeon turned towards the staring crowd and answered in a voice that sounded like he had rehearsed it thousands of times.  
  
"She is a mental case and forgot to take her medicine, so don't bother with her childish behavior. She can't help it and I have no idea why I was chosen to put up with it."  
  
Right before the crowd turned back (again) to their business, Sarah spoke up in a shrill voice.  
  
"I'm not some mental nut!"  
  
A few pool balls from the nearby pool table flew up and, half melted, started to streak towards Simeon. He pulled out his pistol and shot four of them quickly, dodging the rest. Of course, by now, the crowd was enraptured, although none dared to say a word.  
  
"Little things like that can't stop me Sarah. You should at least know that by now."  
  
Sarah, however, was clearly very mad. She snapped her fingers at him, and this time all his clothing caught on fire. The stop, drop, and roll technique worked quite well, although there were scorch marks all over him now. The pistol in his hand had also started to melt into metallic goo in his hands, and he quickly dropped the blob, clutching at the burnt hand.  
  
"Calm down, you know the doctor said that getting upset will not help your condition."  
  
But by then, his voice had lost its calm tone and was replaced by a futile attempt to make his strained voice sound normal.  
  
Sarah's eyes were gleaming ever so slightly red, enraged at being called a mental case. But she instantly calmed down and said in the very quiet, mysterious voice that this form of her had.  
  
"Well, if you hate me that much, I'll just leave."  
  
She snapped her fingers again. But this time, instead of the normal instantaneous teleportation, cherry blossoms began to whirl around her. She floated about a foot up in the air and disappeared, cherry blossoms vanishing once they settled to the ground.  
  
As she and the flowers disappeared, all eyes had turned to look at him, searching for answers. Simeon, however, had other ideas. He got up and quickly walked out the door, although everyone was still looking at him. One of the newer Ravens had plucked up the courage to run after him and pull at his shirt, pleading for an explanation. Simeon simply shook him off, and continued down to the garage.  
  
Once there, he got into his AC and flew down to Earth, back to the same plot of desert where all his troubles had begun. He landed, and turned all power to his AC off.  
  
"My reputation's ruined.The girl's gone, at least."  
  
He looked back up at the endless sky, looking at the stars and the small circle of light that was the Raven's Nest.  
  
"But now what.?"  
  
End Part I  
  
"My life here is ruined.Might as well go to Mars.At least there, I can start over again.And there, Sarah won't find me.Hopefully."  
  
Simeon was still there, still staring up at the endless sea of stars, still wondering what to do. Behind him, he heard the now familiar noise of hooves thudding against the steel flooring. He turned in his chair, to see Sarah. In her freaky horn girl form, no longer the elegant Raven she used to look like.  
  
"Missed me?"  
  
Simeon stood up suddenly, but then fell back into his chair. No use attacking, she'd only reflect it back at him. He laced his fingers together, staring at her, blue-grey eyes icy.  
  
"Well, what do you have to say about your behavior up at the Raven's Nest?"  
  
She remained quiet, smiling ever so slightly.  
  
"You ruined my career, you ruined my life, and you have basically disrupted the very image of all Ravens."  
  
He stood up, advancing on the girl.  
  
"Well? What do you have to say about that?"  
  
She tilted her head. There was no reason for him to be this mad at her, in her opinion.  
  
"Why are you so mad? I was only playing with you."  
  
He brought out his gun, and fired, knowing that something else would happen to the gun, but he didn't care.  
  
This time, the bullet moved much, much slower. Like it was moving through jelly. Sarah caught the long bullet with one hand and threw it back at him, the bullet now moving like it had been fired from a cannon.  
  
Simeon dodged the streaking bullet, and threw the gun at her now. It melted to a puddle of silver on the floor of the AC.  
  
"Can't you just do something to make it so that I never met you!?!? You can do all this, so why don't you pick on someone else!?!?"  
  
The girl nodded, although sadly.  
  
"I don't wanna leave you though."  
  
"Well, my life would be better off without you!"  
  
She sighed sadly again, then snapped. The world through Simeon's eyes began to whirl into a blur of color. He closed his eyes and faded into the stream of color, glad that he was finally getting a second chance.  
  
Simeon opened his eyes again, looking around. He was in his AC, only a few miles from the city where he had just completed his mission. He looked around for any trace of the girl. Good, she was gone.  
  
He looked around again. It was almost sundown, and he was still on Earth. Well, might as well stay to watch the sunset. Maybe it was all just a dream.  
  
He looked up this time, and all his thoughts were shattered. There, sitting on top of the view screen, was Sarah.  
  
"I told you to leave me! Leave and don't come back!"  
  
Outside, the girl disappeared. Only to reappear inside the cockpit. Sakura (cherry) blossoms danced around her head, filling the cockpit with its sweet fragrance.  
  
"Mmm.I like using these Sakura blossoms.They smell nice."  
  
"Why won't you leave me alone!?!?"  
  
She smiled, her cheerful mood restored after the break from Simeon.  
  
"But it's fun to travel with you!"  
  
Simeon groaned, knowing that there was no way to stop the girl. He sighed, leaning back in the chair, thinking. He got up suddenly and spoke.  
  
"If you don't bug me, or get in the way, or do anything to change how everything is supposed to be, you can stay. But ONLY then."  
  
"Yay! Ok, I'll stay with you!"  
  
She clapped her hands happily, glad to stay with him.  
  
Simeon sighed and got back to the controls, getting to the garage to take them back up to space.  
  
Sarah saw this, however, and raised her hand to snap their way up to the station. Simeon put a hand over hers, stifling the snap.  
  
"Don't do anything that would change how everything is supposed to be."  
  
She stopped, and sat down sulkily in the corner. Simeon smiled. Finally, he could do things right.  
  
They were out in space, speeding towards the space station. Simeon was happy, enjoying the ride up, at least a little bit, while Sarah was still sitting in the corner, having a war of the tools (The bolts were winning, this time)  
  
"Would you stop that!? The clanking is getting on my nerves!"  
  
She nodded sadly again, and all the tools and parts in midair clanked onto the steel floor, even louder than before.  
  
Simeon turned back to the view screen and looked to the north. There. The Raven's Nest, only about a mile away. Home again, after the mission, and hopefully Sarah would leave him. All of a sudden, the station exploded into a fiery ball of steel.  
  
Their AC barely missed the main ring of fire from the explosion; the force rocking the AC. Simeon looked back at Sarah, eyes fiery with anger.  
  
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO ANYTHING! CHANGE IT BACK!"  
  
Sarah, too, was dumbfounded at the explosion. She replied quickly.  
  
"But you told me not to change how things are supposed to be! So I won't. And I didn't make the stupid station explode, either."  
  
He looked at her again, tearing his eyes from the screen.  
  
"You didn't.? But then, how come it didn't happen last time?"  
  
"Well.When you go back in time, you have to change everything, and everybody's given a second chance at everything except the choices that are meant to be by destiny. Obviously, this explosion was only a minor factor.But you see, you're alive, I'm alive, and everything that is meant to be is here. But the choices are only here choose your destiny, and only the ones that matter for the cycle of eternity to stay in balance are the ones that don't change. Even I am not to meddle in such affairs such as this."  
  
Sarah was looking mystical, almost. A great change from the 4-year old behavior he had seen before.  
  
"Then why did you appear?!?! Why did you ruin my life in a matter of minutes!!??"  
  
"Well, that didn't affect how things are to be. At least not too much.Things would still happen, and would continue to happen. Your destiny would be fulfilled, and you would still do what you were meant to do, although you would be forever known as the laughingstock of Ravens, but what matters would be done. This is simply another possibility for all that have a place in time to do what they need to do. I can meddle in minor things, but something as major as this.It could change the path of life from the road on which it is to take. I could change it, but the punishment would be severe."  
"But then h-"  
  
Simeon saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned back towards the screen, and could just barely the flash of red from an AC glinting in the sun's light. A red and tan AC. Ares' AC. It was boosting away from the heart of the explosion.  
  
"Ares.?  
  
End Part II End Chapter Two 


End file.
